The ministerial cast which ousts all of Gabriel Attal's lieutenants does not pass into the ranks of the former Prime Minister. François Bayrou's camp claims to have taken political balances into account when appointing his government and denounces “childishness”.
A casting that does not pass. The disappearance of ministers close to Gabriel Attal in François Bayrou's new government annoys the former Prime Minister's entourage. Some see it as an attempt by the tenant of Matignon to corner the president of the Renaissance deputies.
“François Bayrou knows that Gabriel Attal is the only one who can overshadow him. He is someone with a grudge. He can't stand not having been named Prime Minister last January,” writes one of the relatives from BFMTV.com.
“Heartache”
Guillaume Kasbarian (Housing), Anne Genetet (National Education), Antoine Armand (Economy)… Exit in the new government the profiles appreciated by the boss of the Macronist elected representatives in the Assembly.
As for the potential return of former government spokesperson Prisca Thévenot who could have regained the Ministry of Gender Equality, it was not retained. Result: zero close to the former head of government in François Bayrou's team.
“Honestly, it hurt all of us a little,” says an elected official who appreciates the former tenant of Matignon.
Instead, it was rather competitors of Gabriel Attal who made their entry alongside the boss of Modem, starting with Élisabeth Borne, appointed rue de Grenelle after having fought against him for a time to recover the presidential party.
“Nothing personal”
Gérald Darmanin, who has already launched his own Popular movement to position himself for 2027, is also back at Justice. Less than 4 days after his appointment, he has already multiplied on the ground and in the media.
Aurore Bergé, with whom relations are notoriously difficult, is also returning to the corridors of power. So many heavyweights therefore capable of defending the Prime Minister in the National Assembly and in the media.
“There is nothing personal between Bayrou and Attal. The Prime Minister made his casting according to the needs he had, namely Macronists and people who know how to do politics. The rest are just childishness”, trivializes a Modem deputy.
“Don’t want to trust him.”
Is Gabriel Attal also paying the price for his complicated relations with Michel Barnier? The two men had exchanged a few barbs in the National Assembly during the Prime Minister's first steps in September.
MP Renaissance also did not hesitate on several occasions to distance himself from the budget proposed by Matignon.
“What is certain is that when we look at how things went with Barnier, it doesn’t make us want to trust him, that’s for sure,” judges a centrist elected official.
“Macron has nothing to do with all this”
Some of Gabriel Attal's lieutenants think that it was Emmanuel Macron himself who would have excluded certain names from the ministerial cast, not wishing to give Gabriel Attal a gift.
Particularly at issue: the dissolution decided without consulting the then Prime Minister who then made it known publicly how bad he thought about it. Since then, relations have been frosty. A reason to exfiltrate your loved ones from the government?
“Emmanuel Macron has nothing to do with all of this,” defends former Minister of National Education Anne Genetet.
Same story from someone familiar with the corridors of power who assures that the head of state did not get involved in the casting of François Bayrou.
“We have to stop thinking that everything revolves around “Attal”
“The president only focused on his reserved area” by closely following the appointments to the Armed Forces and Foreign Affairs where Sébastien Lecornu and Jean-Noël Barrot were each maintained.
“We must stop thinking that everything revolves around Gabriel Attal. There are things that go beyond his person, starting with the need to bring together the common base,” criticizes another Macronist.
The method, however, has a risk: demotivating certain Renaissance deputies from supporting François Bayrou who will nevertheless need their strength in the Assembly. Michel Barnier himself has often only benefited from the lip service of Macronist deputies, which he would have greatly needed during the study of the budgets in the fall.
“We have Élisabeth Borne who speaks to the left wing of Renaissance, Gérald Darmanin who speaks to the right wing. On paper, that allows us to hold the troops together,” a Modem deputy wants to believe.
“We’ll see” to support Bayrou
For the moment, however, those close to Gabriel Attal are not pretending and should hardly get wet in the debates on the 2025 budgets which promise to be very high risk for François Bayrou
“Me, I'm going to do the constituency, concentrate on the party. For the rest, we'll see,” evades one of his relatives.
While perhaps waiting for a settling of scores behind the scenes, the former Prime Minister, although adept at media stunts, is playing the card of great discretion. A trip to Colmar, support for the Renaissance candidate in Olivier Véran's former territory, a minimalist tweet of support for François Bayrou…
Without obviously damaging its image. In the latest Ifop poll for Sud radio, the two men are equal in the ranking of the French's favorite political figures with 44% of favorable opinions.
